UK SME contractors ‘must upskill or miss out’ on jobs

Small and medium sized construction businesses in the UK are being urged to get the right skills and accreditation to work under the Green Deal or miss out on potential jobs.

That’s the warning from the Industrial Training Board (ITB) for the construction industry, which is calling on UK firms to take advantage of the available work opportunities under the Government’s energy efficiency schemes.

According to CITB-ConstructionSkills’ report published earlier this month, there were 60,000 job losses and a 9% fall in construction output last year, with the situation unlikely to improve much in 2013. Statistics from DECC have suggested the Green Deal could create up to 250,000 new jobs within the next decade.

Mark Farrar, Chief Executive of CITB-Construction Skills said: “From today, Green Deal will enable households to access a raft of measures to make their homes more energy efficient… Only businesses with Green Deal certification will be able to work under the scheme’s banner so SMEs wanting to carry out this work must act now to gain the certification.

“The National Construction College runs a number of low carbon specific courses including subjects such as insulation and building treatments, Low Carbon Retrofit and the new Green Deal Customer Service Plus course. Sustainability is set to play an increasingly important role in the construction industry in the coming years and the time to prepare for the future is now.”

He is also calling on SMEs to use the ‘Cut the Carbon’ web portal, which provides up-to-date information on legislation, regulation and information to help them prepare and qualify for work under the Green Deal and other efficiency schemes.